Hama-sana
Sunflower cultivation began to gradually return to Al-Ghab area in Hama governorate this year due to the high price of the crop and its short agricultural cycle compared to other crops.
Sunflower, moon circle, or tendency is the local name that the people of the region call it. Its cultivation was popular during the past years to suit the jungle lands to produce this crop in which farmers find a feasible crop in both economic and food terms, especially in light of the current conditions and the high prices of imported vegetable oils, most of them from abroad. Demanding the concerned authorities to provide them with possible support in securing the requirements for its cultivation, such as fuel, fertilizers, and most importantly, marketing and disposal of the product.
The farmer Muhammad Turki from the town of Asharna explained that sunflower cultivation was widespread in the region in 2008 and stopped in 2010 due to the availability of a surplus of oil in the market at that time. However, the current situation has changed with the significant increase in the prices of vegetable oils, especially sunflower, being an importer, considering that the cultivation of this The crop currently is a necessity to secure the raw raw material for the production of sunflower oil, to cover the needs of the local market and to meet the needs of consumers of the material.
Farmer Aref Al-Ahmad described sunflower cultivation as comfortable and its cost is low, as well as its consumption of irrigation water is little and does not require much labor in producing the crop and pound, indicating that there are two types of sunflowers that are grown in the first region, salqini, which is consumed directly as citrus and nuts and enters into a number of food industries such as thyme And others and the other oil slaves that are used in the production of vegetable oil and which farmers rely on the concerned authorities to receive it and squeeze it up to the production of slave oil with the required standard specifications.
Engineer Wafiq Zarrouf, Director of Plant Wealth at the General Authority for the Management and Development of the Forest indicated that the cultivation of the sunflower crop gradually resumed in the al-Ghab region, similar to the rest of the other crops, where the demand for its production by farmers increased due to several data, foremost of which is the high price of the crop as well as the low production costs, explaining The area of land cultivated with this crop during the current season is more than 50 hectares, and it is one of the promising crops through which its producers hope to achieve good financial revenues that support them in improving their livelihood.
Abdullah Sheikh
